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Robert A.F. Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University, President of the Tibet House U.S., a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan civilization, and President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, a non-profit affiliated with the Center for Buddhist Studies at Columbia University and dedicated to the publication of translations of important texts from the Tibetan Tengyur.
Time chose Professor Thurman as one of its 25 most influential Americans in 1997, describing him as a "larger than life scholar-activist destined to convey the Dharma, the precious teachings of Siddhartha, from Asia to America." The New York Times recently said Thurman "is considered the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism."
Thurman is known as a talented popularizer of the Buddha's teachings. He is a riveting speaker and an author of many books on Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics and culture, including The Central Philosophy of Tibet, Circling the Sacred Mountain, Essential Tibetan Buddhism, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, Worlds of Transformation, Inner Revolution, Infinite Life, and, most recently, Why The Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World.
His own search for enlightenment began while he was a student at Harvard. After an accident in which he lost the use of an eye, Thurman left school on a spiritual quest throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia . He found his way to India, where he first saw H.H. the Dalai Lama in 1962. After learning Tibetan and studying Buddhism he decided to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk and was ordained by H.H. the Dalai Lama, the first Westerner to earn that distinction. However, some years later, he gave up his robes when "he discovered he could be more effective in the American equivalent of the monastery: the university". He returned to Harvard to finish his PhD. A very popular professor, students call his classes "life-changing".
As part of his long-term commitment to the Tibetan cause, at the request of H.H. the Dalai Lama, Thurman co-founded Tibet House US in 1987 with Richard Gere, Philip Glass. Since then Uma Thurman, Melissa Mathison Ford, Natalie Merchant, Leila Hadley Luce and others have joined the board. Tibet House US is a nonprofit organization in New York City dedicated to the preservation and renaissance of Tibetan civilization. It maintains a lively museum and cultural center, and offers programs in all aspects of the Tibetan arts and sciences. It founded the Menla Mountain Retreat Center in the Catskill Mountains to advance the healing arts and wisdom of Tibetan and Asian medicine traditions and offer their resources to the growing demand for alternative and complementary health practices.
Inspired by his good friend the Dalai Lama, Thurman stands on Buddhism's open ground, but thence takes us unfailingly into an expanded vision of the world, whether the sweep of history, the subtleties of the inner science of the psyche, or the wonders of the life of the heart, helps us to clear away shrouds of fear and confusion, and leaves us with the cheerfulness of an enriched present and the realistic hope for a peaceful future.
Robert Thurman

Compilation: Compassion, Modernity and Wisdom Bundle with Robert Thurman
27.00 118.00
This Special Value compilation bundles together some of our favorite Robert Thurman titles for a specially priced audio bundle that comes at an amazing discount. Selections are made available from our Robert Thurman library. Sit back and enjoy this special spiritual journey. The compilation includes the following titles: World Mandala The Art...

The Politics of Enlightenment with Robert Thurman
12.00
"Thus there is a politics of enlightenment, a set of strategies based on enlightened principles that maximize beings’ progress toward enlightenment. From its principles emerge sets of policies and practices that are an indispensable part of our progress toward enlightenment." Robert Thurman In this thought-provoking lecture on the timeless subj...
No Death, No Fear Ram Dass, Roshi Joan Halifax, Frank Ostaseski, Robert Thurman and Krishna Das

No Death, No Fear Ram Dass, Roshi Joan Halifax, Frank Ostaseski, Robert Thurman and Krishna Das
21.00 49.00
What if engaging with our fear surrounding death could help awaken us to the gift of life? Ram Dass made his mark on the world by teaching the path of the heart and promoting service in the areas of social consciousness and care for the dying. Opening ourselves to love and death require a certain kind of surrendering. How can we learn to bear ...

The Art of Dying and the Art of Living - Robert A.F. "Tenzin"Thurman
12.00
In this workshop we will study together the Book of Natural Liberation (often known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead) in detail, with a focus on learning practical exercises to bring the awareness of death, and the after-death in-between realm, into our lives, to enhance our living in a new context. We will meditate together, as well as learn an...
Discovering "The Undiscovered Country:" How Facing Death Brings Life with Robert Thurman

Discovering "The Undiscovered Country:" How Facing Death Brings Life with Robert Thurman
12.95
So Shakespeare called the realm that one might enter after death. And he rightly described the dilemma of persons worried about its possibility and nature. Does it exist? What is it like? How to traverse it to a good end? The Indian Buddhist “inner scientists” and their Tibetan successors claimed to have investigated this country very thoroughly...

Compassion and the Power of Goodness with Robert Thurman
19.95
Robert Thurman discusses "Compassion". The Buddha taught that to realize enlightenment, a person must have both wisdom and loving kindness. That is to say, one must understand the nature of the suffering from which we wish to free others, and experience deep intimacy and empathy with other beings. It is the foundation of human life in Buddha's v...

Inner Dimension of Modernity with Robert Thurman
9.95
Robert Thurman discusses modernity as part of a series on different aspects of Tibet and Tibetan history. Part of the wisdom series. Running time: 76 minutes ISBN Digital Download: 978-1-61544-603-2 Author Bio and Links

Wisdom and the Quest for Identity with Robert Thurman
19.95
First in a series of 3 Classic Courses delivered by Thurman years ago in NYC, he begins this segment with the subject of the Profound. Part One of three in the Wisdom series. Running time: 3 hours, 43 minutes ISBN Digital Download: 978-1-61544-605-6 Author Bio and Links

World Mandala with Robert Thurman
9.95
"Mandala" is an ancient Sanskrit word meaning "sacred circle that protects the soul." It also refers to the sacred cosmograms that serve as core symbols of all cultures. Westerners have been fascinated for centuries about the mandalas of the Hindu-Buddhist cultures of Asia, most often painted geometric diagrams of great beauty and sophistication...

Basic Buddhism with Robert Thurman
21.95
Robert Thurman's Basic Buddhism is a collective series of 5 lectures he has given on Buddhism. In these lectures, Thurman patiently takes apart each jewel of Buddhism: the Buddha as the teacher of enlightenment, the Dharma as the teaching, or enlightenment itself, and the Sangha as the historical and current community of learners seeking to bec...

The Yoga of Ordinary Living with Robert Thurman
24.99 34.95
Spiritual disciplines often seen remote from the realities of our daily lives. Yet there is a Mahayana Scripture which presents a model of enlightened practice in the midst of urban living, the Vimalakirti Sutra. This teaches a nondualistic wisdom and reconciliation of dichotomies. It challenges ordinariness and reveals systematic and effective ...

Buddhist Theory of Relativity and The Yoga of Critical Reason with Robert Thurman
19.99
This Classic Course explores the unfolding of the genius and wisdom in each of us in the quest for the liberating insight into selflessness. In the context of our modern quest for a new vision of reality, Robert Thurman discusses the deepest issues of reality and non-reality, transcendent and the relative. Dr. Thurman's brilliant dissertation on...

Modern Thought in Buddhism with Robert Thurman
15.95 19.95
This Classic Course was recorded in the mid 1980's as we neared the end of the second- Christian Millenium, many prophetic voices were being raised to speak of revelation and other apocolyptic visions. Some western mystics even mentioned the future Buddha, -Maitreya, in connection with a returning Christ or Christ impulse. What do the Buddhists,...